5 Fun Halloween activities for the whole family

There's so much more to Halloween than just trick-or-treating! Make Halloween special for your family this year by creating some fun new traditions that your kids will love. Here are five Halloween activities for families to enjoy!

PinPinBoo your neighbors or friends

This is a fun tradition that is sure to get your entire family in the spirit of Halloween. It's known by a few different names, but the essence is always the same -- put together a little Halloween package filled with goodies and treats and leave it on the doorstep of your favorite neighbor. Include instructions that they need to pass the Halloween love along by doing the same to another neighbor. Don't forget to include a cute "boo" sign that they hang in the front window of their home so that the entire neighborhood can tell they've been boo'ed and see how long it takes before everyone has a boo sign!

PinVisit the library for some spooky books

There are some really great, fun Halloween books and a trip to your local library to stock up on some for the holiday will surely spook-up your bedtime stories. A few that are worth hunting down include The Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anythingby Linda Williams and Megan Lloyd, and The Halloween Kid by Rhode Montijo. Reading Halloween books is the perfect way to gear up to the big night!

PinPlan a deliciously frightful dinner

Halloween pulls out all of the stops when it comes to creative recipes, so why not plan an entire meal full of Halloween recipes -- you can even make this a Halloween Eve tradition in your family! At a Halloween dinner, the most ordinary foods are magically transformed into their spooky counterparts -- spaghetti is brains or guts, olives become eye-balls and nuts become witch fingernails. Or, make some homemade pizza dough and decorate it as a jack-o-lantern using cut up veggies. For dessert, a graveyard cake covered in "dirt" will be a hit.

PinHave a Halloween fashion show

Do your kids have a huge collection of dress-up clothes? Pull them all out of the playroom for a silly Halloween fashion show -- make one room of your house the dressing room and let them go wild creating crazy costumes and creations. Once they're dressed in their Halloween finest, have them walk the "scaredy-catwalk" to show off. For older kids, make some cards with costume ideas (a policeman, a chef, a fitness instructor, a parent, etc.), have them pick one idea from a hat and then make them pull together a costume to match that idea.

PinTurn out the lights for a night of ghost stories

Sometimes the most fun part of Halloween is that all of the activities happen in the dark! Families who are feeling brave can plan a night at home telling ghost stories -- pop some popcorn, build a fire in the fireplace and turn the lights off in the house to set the scene and then pass out flashlights and get the ghost stories going.